Winner of the William M. LeoGrande Prize For over a century, the United States has sought to improve the behavior of the peoples of Latin America. Perceiving their neighbors to the south as underdeveloped and unable to govern themselves, U.S. policy makers have promoted everything from representative democracy and economic development to oral hygiene. But is improvement a progressive impulse to help others, or realpolitik in pursuit of a superpower's interests? "In this subtle and searing critique of U.S. efforts to 'uplift' Latin America, Lars Schoultz challenges us to question the fundamental tenets of the development industry that became entrenched in the U.S. foreign policy bureaucracy over the last century." -Piero Gleijeses, author of Visions of Freedom "In this masterful work, Lars Schoultz provides a companion and follow-up to his classic Beneath the United States...A necessary and rewarding read for scholars and students of U.S. foreign policy and inter-American relations." -Renata Keller, The Americas

The role of human rights in United States policy toward Latin America is the subject of this study. It covers the early sixties to 1980, a period when humanitarian values came to play an important role in determining United States foreign policy. The author is concerned both with explaining why these values came to impinge on government decision making and how internal bureaucratic processes affected the specific content of United States policy. Originally published in 1981. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Lars Schoultz proposes a way for all those interested in U.S. foreign policy fully to appreciate the terms of the present debate. To understand U.S. policy in Latin America, he contends, one must critically examine the deeply held beliefs of U.S. policy makers about what Latin America means to U.S. national security. Originally published in 1987. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Lars Schoultz proposes a way for all those interested in U.S. foreign policy fully to appreciate the terms of the present debate. To understand U.S. policy in Latin America, he contends, one must critically examine the deeply held beliefs of U.S. policy makers about what Latin America means to U.S. national security.

Originally published in 1987.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The role of human rights in United States policy toward Latin America is the subject of this study. It covers the early sixties to 1980, a period when humanitarian values came to play an important role in determining United States foreign policy. The author is concerned both with explaining why these values came to impinge on government decision making and how internal bureaucratic processes affected the specific content of United States policy.

Originally published in 1981.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the revolution. Cuba has regularly given Washington a headache, Lars Schoultz observes in his comprehensive chronicle of U.S. policy toward the Cuban Revolution. Seeking relief, even the most patient U.S. officials have often been tempted to repeat what an exasperated President Theodore Roosevelt told a friend in 1906: 'I am so angry with that infernal little Cuban republic that I would like to wipe its people off the face of the earth'.Certainly that has been true since 1959, when a group of rebels led by Fidel Castro ousted Fulgencio Batista, a dictator known for his friendly ties to the United States, and proceeded to cause more trouble than anyone could have imagined. Using a rich array of documents and firsthand interviews with U.S. and Cuban officials, Schoultz tells the story of the attempts and failures of ten U.S. administrations to end the Cuban Revolution. He covers everything from the legendary 1960s plot to assassinate Castro using a rigged ballpoint pen to the message that recently ran across the electronic billboard of the U.S. interests section in Havana: 'Communism doesn't work because people like to own stuff' - a comment attributed to the late rocker Frank Zappa. Schoultz argues that despite the overwhelming advantage in size and power that the United States enjoys over its neighbor, the Cubans' historical insistence on their right to self-determination has inevitably irritated American administrations, influenced both U.S. domestic politics and foreign policy, and led to a freeze in diplomatic relations of unprecedented longevity. Schoultz's analysis illuminates what has been a highly unproductive foreign policy and points to fresh prospects as a new century of U.S.-Cuban relations begins.

Schoultz examines the fundamental political cleavage between classical liberalism and the populist Peronist political movements in Argentina, identifying the socioeconomic structural features that led to this division and focusing on changes in social class composition that accompanied major demographic shifts and alterations in economic activity. He dominated the electoral process that liberals are able to control public policy only through ties to the military.
Originally published in 1983.
A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Excellent and well-written history of US foreign policy toward Latin America emphasizes often depreciative view that Washington statesmen had of their neighbors to the south. Based on extensive research of correspondence, speeches, and other foreign policy-related statements. Useful for specialists, undergraduates, and anyone interested in US/Latin American relations"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.